Cards on the Table
by capostrophe
Summary: Valentine's Cards written, given, received and forged by Joey Boswell across the years. Joey/Roxy, Joey/Martina, Billy/Julie


**I know I'm posting this a day early, but I'm likely not to have time tomorrow. Thought I'd try something different and illustrate the rise and decline in Joey's relationships and the way his mind works when he's in love, and the way those he's involved with react to him, through what's written in his Valentine's cards. And because it's me, of course, there has to be eventual Joetina. This doesn't fit in with any particular universe but it does still work under the mentality that eventually Joey's marriage to Roxy goes bust and well...someone else is waiting ;) I've tried to check the broadcast dates of the episodes so the following Februaries reflect what's gone on for Joey in the previous season (apart from pre-post show which is fabricated.)**

 **Anyway, hope this works. And happy Valentine's Day, everyone!**

* * *

 **1981  
Card written by Joey Boswell; delivered, received  
Card written by Roxy Hartwell; delivered, received**

Roxy,  
I know it's been only a short time (whirlwind romance, eh?) but I've got a great feeling about us. I look at you, Roxy, and I can see our whole future stretched out ahead of us, bright as a rainbow, as my dad would say. I'll admit, Roxy, times have been hard for me of late. My family have been struggling to keep together and I've felt lost and unsure what to do, unsure where my life was heading. Since I met you, though, it's as if my future has opened up again. If you'll forgive the cliché, you've brought a light into my life, and I just know what lies before us is going to be brilliant. Sorry about getting soppy. I've always put too much sentiment into my cards, or so I've been told. I always write too much. Our Adrian's the same, mind, so it must run in the family. Happy Valentine's Day, Roxy. The first of many happy times to come, I know it.  
Love, Joey

 _Dear Joey,  
I can hardly believe my luck at finding someone like you, someone who understands who I am and is completely accepting. You've always been there for me, been considerate of me, shown me the love and passion and devotion I've always wanted. I know being with you will always make me completely happy and you'll never let me down, you'll always take care of me and by sympathetic to my needs. And that makes me so happy. I can't wait to spend this day with you, as well as our whole lives.  
Happy Valentine's Day,  
I love you,  
Roxy_

* * *

 **1982  
Card written by Joey Boswell; delivered, received  
Card written by Roxy Hartwell; delivered, received**

Roxy,  
It's hard to believe it's been over a year since I first met you. When I bumped into you that night, I knew it was a more than a lucky coincidence I'd decided to take the scenic route home. It was fate. Every day I spend with you I know, with more certainty, that it's you I love, you I want, you I'll always want. There's never been anybody else. There never will be. I know we've had our ups and downs, sweetheart, but I love you so utterly, so completely, that I know it doesn't matter. We'll work out, I'm sure of it. Happy Valentine's Day, Roxy. I love you with all I am.  
Joey

 _Dear Joey,  
I'm so glad to be spending Valentine's Day with you. It seems an eternity since I've seen you, and since the days when every day would find us walking about hand in hand. Every day I don't see you, I miss you. I think about you, in that red-brick terraced house, with your family, often, and wonder about your life there, a life I am yet to know much about. What are you like there, Joey? What would our life be like, if it were you and me in a little house somewhere, shut off from the world? Would I understand then? No matter. Today is about the two of us, and I know it will be wonderful and special, just you and me. Us. I know we'll have a very happy Valentine's Day, together.  
Love, Roxy_

* * *

 **1983  
Card written by Joey Boswell; delivered, received  
Card written by Roxy Hartwell; delivered, received**

Roxy,  
I know this past year hasn't been great, but I know things will get better. The stress of Dad leaving has taken its toll, not least on me. Everything I could rely on in life has become an upheaval—Mam's support, our source of income, our family relationship, our futures. But you, Roxy, are still a constant, a certainty. I know the rows we've had this year can't be counted on all four of our hands, but sometimes that's how love is, and the fact that we've stuck together through thick and through thin just shows me how real, good, honest, true our love is. I want you to know, Roxy, no matter what happens, that I love you, always. And this Valentine's Day, I hope you enjoy the surprise I've arranged for us, and that through it, I can show you just how much I love and care for you, just how much you mean to me.  
I love you, Roxy,  
Happy Valentine's Day,  
Joey

 _Dear Joey,  
Happy Valentine's Day. I hope this one will be a good one.  
Roxy._

* * *

 **1984**

 **Card written by Joey Boswell; delivered, returned to sender  
**

Roxy,  
I've only got a mate of a mate's word to go on that this is your address. If you do get this, I just want you to know, I'm sorry for whatever it is I've done. Perhaps I didn't try as hard as I could have done. I did want to, Roxy, really, I did. I loved you completely. I gave as much of myself as I could to you. Sometimes, Roxy, we have to stand by our families. Sometimes life isn't as easy as we'd like it to be, and Roxy, I had to help them, sweetheart. My family are part of my soul. But you, Roxy, are in my guts. I'm not asking to try it all again, I'm not asking you to be my Valentine, I just hope that if you've got it in you, if you get this card, would you meet me for dinner just once? I only want to know where it went wrong, what I did, what I could've done better. For closure, if nothing else, and so if I am ever fortunate enough to meet another woman who makes my heart race the way you did, it doesn't end the same way.  
Joey

* * *

 **1985  
Card written by Joey Boswell; delivered, received**

Greetings, Lovely Martina,  
Please accept this card as a token of my eternal gratitude for your services to my family over the past year, and as a pre-emptive thanks for the most necessary assistance you will no doubt graciously provide for us this coming year (hint.) Your help has been invaluable to us as we struggle through our time of need and desperation.  
Your good health,

Joey Boswell.

* * *

 **1986**

 **Half-written cards by Joey Boswell; undelivered  
Card written by Joey Boswell; delivered, received**

Dear Martina,

Martina,  
If I

Lovely Martina,

Dear Martina,  
You won't expect to receive a Valentine's card from me, I know, but

Martina,  
Last year's card may have been a joke, but over the past year, I've thought perhaps

Martina,  
Would you ever consider

Martina,  
Do you fancy going to

Martina,  
When you say you despise my family, are you serious or are you just

Martina,  
I don't know about you, but I for one

Martina,  
I know there's not much hope of you thinking I could ever be

Dear Martina,  
Greetings and best wishes and thank you on behalf of the Boswell family.

* * *

 **1987  
Forgery of Billy Boswell's handwriting; written by Joey Boswell; delivered, received  
Phone call; received 15/2/87, answered by Adrian Boswell, passed on to Billy**

Dear Julie,  
Happy Valentine's Day! See, I didn't forget! I love you, and Francesca, very much. Now you've come home from London I promise to make a fresh start and show my devotion every day.  
Love, Billy

 _I can't believe you, sometimes, BILLY BOSWELL! Who did you pay to write that card for ya? It doesn't even sound like you, the spelling's FAR too good, and it uses words you wouldn't even KNOW! What a wonderful husband and father you're gonna be; you can't even bother to sit down and sign your name in a card for me! How are we supposed to raise a child together if you can't even remember anythin' about our relationship?! What are you gonna do on her birthday, just HOPE one of your brothers has committed it to memory? What d'you mean, 'what card?' Don't play dumb with ME, Billy Boswell! Don't even try to PRETEND you don't know what I'm talking about! What d'you mean, you're sayin' prayers now? If you think, Billy, that I—_

* * *

 **1988**

 **Letter written by Joey Boswell; not delivered.**

Roxy,  
I know what I said. No more phone calls, no visits, leave you to heal and all that. And I'm not asking anything of you now, I merely want to say to you that I can't get you out of my head. I think of you in that little bedsit we found, which I thought was appalling but you insisted was enough, and your children, and I wonder how you're doing. I'll admit, Roxy, I was startled when I saw the little lad on my doorstep. If he was the reason you left, you need only have told me. If he was the result of you seeing someone else, I would have liked the dignity of knowing. It's been months since you came back, months since you left again, and I don't think I've slept well once in that time. Even after all that, even after you married someone else, even after you broke my heart three times over, I still love you. I'm not trying to pester you. I don't want you to think you have to come back to me, or even that I'm asking. I suppose what I really wanted to do was just let you know I still love you, and wish you a happy Valentine's Day, no matter where you spend it and who you spend it with.  
Joey

* * *

 **1989  
Card written by Joey Boswell; delivered, received**

Roxy,  
I don't know where we stand at present. Should I go and see you? Should I leave off and post this? I'll decide when it comes to giving you this. Roxy, I know I've let you down, I've been there for my family and not for you. Rome was one great, dirty letdown. The times I've tried to see you since: letdowns, all. But I'll take this day of all days to tell you I love you, Roxy. I'll always love you. And I'll make it up to you. Let this be the Valentine's Day that makes all the others look pathetic by comparison. I promise, Roxy, that I will devote the entire day to you, I will stick my mobile in the boot of my car and not so much as look at it, I will cast all my family troubles aside for a moment, and just be with you. I love you, Roxy. Happy Valentine's Day.  
Joey

* * *

 **1990**

 **Letter Written by Roxy Hartwell; delivered, received  
**

 _Dear Joey,  
I'm writing to say Happy Valentine's Day. You've always loved this day, I know. I used to love it as well, when we spent it together. Joey, I don't understand why we can't be together. You wanted to be with me. You pleaded. Why is it now you phone me up, want to talk to me or hear my voice, and then immediately write off the possibility of us starting things up again? It's something I don't understand. I don't understand why you can't just be with me. Love is about risking everything for somebody. It's what make it so special. Even if things aren't going so well, can't you at least meet me briefly? Love is meant to surpass the troubles in life. It's meant to surpass your jealousy and unrealistic behaviour at the Adelphi over Christmas, and reservations over who has a child and who doesn't. Love is stronger than that. And I know you love me, Joey. And I love you. And we should be together.  
If you get this letter, ring me.  
Roxy_

* * *

 **1991  
Card written by Joey Boswell; delivered, received**

Roxy,  
There are days when I miss you so much it consumes me. I wish things could be different. Thinking of you on Valentine's Day, and whatever you're doing, I hope you're happy.  
Joey

* * *

 **1992  
Card written by Joey Boswell; delivered, received  
Card written by Roxy Hartwell; delivered, received**

Happy Valentine's Day, wife!  
You've no idea how amazingthe it feels, Roxy, to use the word 'wife' when writing this. Wife, wife, wife. Well, then. Our first Valentine's Day as a married couple. Dear Roxy, I know our marriage had a strange start, and hasn't exactly been a fairytale come to life, but we're married, and we love each other, and that makes my heart burst from my chest to think of it. I know today will be fantastic with you here beside me. And so will our future.  
Love, Joey

 _Dear Joey,  
Happy Valentine's Day. Let's hope this Valentine's Day, now we're married, is a success.  
Love, Roxy_

* * *

 **1993  
Half-written letters by Joey Boswell; undelivered **

Roxy,  
When once I loved Valentine's Day, it now fills me with hatred and remorse

Roxy,  
I miss you so very

Roxy,  
I wish I had never married

Roxy,  
I wish I had never met

Roxy,  
Today especially, I have been thinking of you, while I'm upstairs in the little red-brick terraced house occupied by my family, while I am surrounded by their warmth and love, something I never got from

Roxy,  
I'm sorry for how things

Roxy,  
I don't know how or why this ha

Roxy,  
Every time I remember how you broke my heart, I

Roxy,  
I forgive you

Roxy,  
I want you back

Roxy,  
I don't want you back

Roxy,

* * *

 **1994**

 **Scrap of paper found under Joey Boswell's pillow**

Resolution: I will not spend another Valentine's Day wallowing

* * *

 **1995  
Card written by Joey Boswell; delivered, received  
Card signed by Martina; delivered, received  
**

Martina,  
I know you have already expressed your disdain for commercial sentiment, and I don't expect you to participate in Valentine's Day, or send me a card, and I know you said you didn't want any fuss. But I couldn't let today pass, sweetheart, without letting you know how much you mean to me. Besides, I am Joey Boswell, and as you know, soppy sentimental speeches (or in this case, letters) are what I do best (well, one thing I do best. I have many talents, as you know). Please, sweet lady, upon receiving this card, refrain from it to slit my throat upon for disregarding your instructions not to get you anything. My intentions, as you may have noticed, are noble. Seems strange to think, doesn't it, that it hasn't even been a full year yet (whirlwind romance, eh?). And the last time I sent you a Valentine's Card (do you remember that?) it was offering my heartfelt thanks for you so generously providing forms to my family. So much has changed in such a short time, hasn't it? I suppose this Valentine's Card is also offering my heartfelt thanks, in a way. What for, you might ask? Well, for one thing, yes, your continued support to my family, but for far more than that, Martina. For your beauty. For your wit. For the warm, kind heart you hide beneath that frosty exterior. For the fact that you are the only person in the world with whom I argue constantly and yet feel closer to because of it, for testing me and bringing out the best in myself. For just being you, sweetheart. I can never get over having the privilege of being with you, sweetheart. I'm having to write painfully small to fit all this in, dear, lovely Martina, so forgive me if I run out of room and can't finish this heartfelt declaration because it doesn't fit on the

 _Joey,  
from Martina_

* * *

 **1996  
Card written by Joey Boswell; delivered, received  
Card written by Martina; delivered, received**

Greetings!  
I thought it apt to start off with that, for the look on your face. You're probably doing it as you read this. You look beautiful when you're cross. In all seriousness, though, sweetheart, this card is just to remind you how utterly I adore you—even when times are rough, even when we're rowing or you're being stubborn or I'm being, as you put it, 'obnoxious' and driving you mad, even when I come down the DSS in search of pittance for a family member and you presume I'm up to no good and we go round and round…even through all that, I love you, sweetheart, and I wouldn't change our life together for the world. And I know, Martina, that sometimes I'm overly sentimental and it rubs you up the wrong way, or I wonder what you're thinking when you have trouble expressing your thoughts as openly as I do, but beneath that, the love is there, even if it manifests in different ways for each of us. And I will never stop being thankful for it. Or for you. I love you, Martina. And I will never let you forget it, or doubt it for one moment.  
All my love,  
Joey

 _Joey,  
from Martina_

* * *

 **1997  
Card written by Joey Boswell; delivered, received  
Card written by Martina; delivered, received**

Martina,  
Behold! A (comparatively) sentiment-free card! This year, I'll heed your advice. You don't need me to fill a card with sentiment to know how I feel about you. Anything I could have said, hopefully you know already. And if not, I will be sure to show you, every day, forever.  
Joey

 _Joey,  
love Martina xx_


End file.
